This invention is directed to toy latex balloons and in particular to a toy balloon valve adapter for use on toy balloon valves to sealingly support different sizes of toy balloons including smaller and larger size balloons used for advertising display. This invention is also directed to means for securing a tether such as a ribbon to a balloon assembly using the balloon valve adapter of the present invention.
Helium-filled toy balloons that are given away as promotions at restaurants and other businesses are typically 9 to 11 inches in size. There are a number of existing balloon valves, for example the applicants U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,203 xe2x80x9cBalloon Valve Assemblyxe2x80x9d that are available for supporting relatively small size balloons of approximately 4 to 12 inches in size and are therefore inflatable using such existing toy balloon valves. Unfortunately, relatively smaller neck size balloons as found on xe2x80x9canimal twistiesxe2x80x9d do not fit sealingly on such existing balloon valves. Similarly too, relatively larger balloons such as 16, 17 and 25 inch size balloons that are typically used by automobile dealers to attract customer attention also do not fit sealingly on such existing balloon valves. This is because existing balloon valves are too small to effectively support and seal the necks of such larger sized balloons during inflation or after inflation. An obvious solution would be to make a dedicated smaller or larger sized balloon valve to accommodate each of the various sizes of balloons. However, this would require considerable expense as well as time to create the tooling.
There is therefore a need for a balloon valve adapter for enabling existing balloon valves to sealingly support different sizes of balloons. Additionally, because helium-filled balloons are lighter than air and, if not tethered will float up into the atmosphere and become lost, the present invention provides a means for attaching a tether to the balloon valve and adapter assembly. The most common solution to tethering toy balloons consists of tying a string or ribbon to the neck of the balloon after inflation. This is labor intensive and does not permit refilling the balloon with helium to replace helium that normally escapes through the pores of the inflated balloon.
Methods for securing the tether to the balloon support are:
1) Hand tying a knot, which is extremely labor intensive. Even with low cost labor, the problem is having sufficient labor available to meet high volume demand.
2) Stapling is another means of securing the tether to the support. One problem is the tether slipping from the staple. Another, the sharp staple points may cause injury.
3) Securing a ribbon by heat-staking, for example, Murray, U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,413 entitled xe2x80x9cHeat-Staked Tether for Toy Balloonsxe2x80x9d. Heat staking may allow for the ribbon being xe2x80x9cpealedxe2x80x9d from the support, thereby becoming detached. Another disadvantage is the complexity and expense of the equipment.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a toy balloon valve adapter for enabling an existing balloon valve to mate sealingly with different size balloons including odd sized balloons. In a further embodiment of the invention a tether support device is provided for securing a tether to an assembly of a balloon, a balloon valve, and the balloon valve adapter, so as to retain the balloon and keep it from floating freely into the atmosphere.